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Mandatory H1N1 shots for soldiers could violate Charter
OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces reserves the right to order its soldiers deployed
in Afghanistan to take the vaccine meant to prevent swine flu, says the military's
surgeon general. But Commodore Hans Jung said it would be an order of last
resort that will need to be studied to ensure it doesn't violate the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
Just how far the military can go in ordering illness-prevention measures is a sensi-
tive topic given the bruising legal fights almost a decade ago over anthrax injections.
The current plan is to make the H1N1 vaccine, expected to be available in November,
voluntary for soldiers, sailors and aircrew throughout the Canadian Forces, including
those on duty in Kandahar and elsewhere around the world.
But the nightmare scenario of an army laid up with the flu isn't far from minds of
commanders. "The option of mandatory (injections) is a hip-pocket issue. It's a card
that would be played in a truly dire circumstances," Jung said in a recent interview
with The Canadian Press. "We're going to be strongly recommending that everybody
take the vaccine offered. Obviously depending on how the pandemic evolves in Canada
and around the world, the government and the military may have to think about"
ordering soldiers to take it.
Jung said the chief of defence staff, the country's top military commander, has the
necessary legal authority to make it happen, as seniors commanders did during the
1990s, when troops, sailors and air crew heading to the Middle East were required
to take anthrax vaccinations. Those who refused were brought up on disciplinary
charges and court martialed.
The practice of mandatory anthrax injections, which made some soldiers sick and
raised fears among them of Gulf War Syndrome, ended in 2000 on the orders of
military judge Col. Guy Brais. He ruled the program was violation of a soldier's
constitutional rights.
Jung took over as surgeon general and head of the military's health branch in the
summer. He said the possibility of a swine flu pandemic, with an army fighting in
the field, presents National Defence and the military's health services branch with
a unique challenge. He described the policy as in "evolution."
There is growing public skepticism about the H1N1 vaccine. Canada has ordered
more than 50 million doses from GlaxoSmithKline. For military members stationed
at home, the system of immunization isn't much different from that for ordinary
citizens. Health Canada officials have repeatedly stressed that the swine flu
vaccination will not be mandatory for Canadians and Jung said that includes members
of the military.
But overseas it's a different matter, where the army's health services branch has set
a goal of voluntarily immunizing between 60 and 70 per cent of the roughly 2,850
Canadians serving in Kandahar. Jung said if they don't get that figure and the flu is
severe, commanders would have to look at a mandatory system.
One of the complicating factors in that equation is that Canadian troops share the
airfield with more than 15,000 other NATO troops and patrol through regions where
Afghans have little access to basic medical care and sanitation. Jung said he's confident
they'll get enough volunteers and said much depends on the severity of the anticipated
second wave.
The military is watching the computer simulations on the potential spread H1N1. The
contingency plans at National Defence range from a mild outbreak, similar to the seasonal
flu, all of the way up to aid to the civil power in the event of a pandemic as serious as the
1918-19 Spanish flu.
OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces reserves the right to order its soldiers deployed
in Afghanistan to take the vaccine meant to prevent swine flu, says the military's
surgeon general. But Commodore Hans Jung said it would be an order of last
resort that will need to be studied to ensure it doesn't violate the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
Just how far the military can go in ordering illness-prevention measures is a sensi-
tive topic given the bruising legal fights almost a decade ago over anthrax injections.
The current plan is to make the H1N1 vaccine, expected to be available in November,
voluntary for soldiers, sailors and aircrew throughout the Canadian Forces, including
those on duty in Kandahar and elsewhere around the world.
But the nightmare scenario of an army laid up with the flu isn't far from minds of
commanders. "The option of mandatory (injections) is a hip-pocket issue. It's a card
that would be played in a truly dire circumstances," Jung said in a recent interview
with The Canadian Press. "We're going to be strongly recommending that everybody
take the vaccine offered. Obviously depending on how the pandemic evolves in Canada
and around the world, the government and the military may have to think about"
ordering soldiers to take it.
Jung said the chief of defence staff, the country's top military commander, has the
necessary legal authority to make it happen, as seniors commanders did during the
1990s, when troops, sailors and air crew heading to the Middle East were required
to take anthrax vaccinations. Those who refused were brought up on disciplinary
charges and court martialed.
The practice of mandatory anthrax injections, which made some soldiers sick and
raised fears among them of Gulf War Syndrome, ended in 2000 on the orders of
military judge Col. Guy Brais. He ruled the program was violation of a soldier's
constitutional rights.
Jung took over as surgeon general and head of the military's health branch in the
summer. He said the possibility of a swine flu pandemic, with an army fighting in
the field, presents National Defence and the military's health services branch with
a unique challenge. He described the policy as in "evolution."
There is growing public skepticism about the H1N1 vaccine. Canada has ordered
more than 50 million doses from GlaxoSmithKline. For military members stationed
at home, the system of immunization isn't much different from that for ordinary
citizens. Health Canada officials have repeatedly stressed that the swine flu
vaccination will not be mandatory for Canadians and Jung said that includes members
of the military.
But overseas it's a different matter, where the army's health services branch has set
a goal of voluntarily immunizing between 60 and 70 per cent of the roughly 2,850
Canadians serving in Kandahar. Jung said if they don't get that figure and the flu is
severe, commanders would have to look at a mandatory system.
One of the complicating factors in that equation is that Canadian troops share the
airfield with more than 15,000 other NATO troops and patrol through regions where
Afghans have little access to basic medical care and sanitation. Jung said he's confident
they'll get enough volunteers and said much depends on the severity of the anticipated
second wave.
The military is watching the computer simulations on the potential spread H1N1. The
contingency plans at National Defence range from a mild outbreak, similar to the seasonal
flu, all of the way up to aid to the civil power in the event of a pandemic as serious as the
1918-19 Spanish flu.
.
